After the tense but unfocused Argo triumphed over the brilliant Les Miserables, Lincoln and Beasts of the Southern Wild at the last Oscars, I’m not sure that the Academy Award Best Picture is the best judge of what really is the best film of the year but it’s certainly the most prestigious honour any movie can receive. This year features plenty of strong contenders but some stars have seen some shocking snubs.
Best Picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Director
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
David O’Russell – American Hustle
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Alexander Payne – Nebraska
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Original Screenplay
Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle
Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine
Bob Nelson – Nebraska
Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack – Dallas Buyers Club
Spike Jonze – Her
Best Adapted Screenplay
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave
Billy Ray – Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena
Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater – Before Midnight
Best Actor
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress
Amy Adams – American Hustle
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Meryl Streep – August: Osage County
Judi Dench – Philomena
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Julia Roberts – August: Osage County
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
June Squibb – Nebraska
Best Animated Film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises
Best Original Score
Philomena – Alexander Desplat
The Book Thief – John Williams
Gravity – Stephen Price
Saving Mr Banks – Thomas Newman
Her – William Butler, Owen Pallett
Best Original Song
Alone Yet Not Alone – Alone Yet Not Alone
Happy – Despicable Me 2
Let it Go – Frozen
The Moon Song – Her
Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Best Cinematography
The Grandmaster – Phillipe Le Sourd
Gravity – Emmanuel Lubezki
Inside Llewyn Davis – Bruno Delbonnel
Nebraska – Phedon Papamichael
Prisoners – Roger Deakins
Best Editing
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Best Production Design
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Her
Gravity
The Great Gatsby
Best Costume Design
American Hustle – Michael Wilkinson
The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin
The Invisible Woman – Michael O’Connor
The Grandmaster – William Chang Suk Ping
12 Years a Slave – Patricia Norris
Best Make-Up
Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger
Best Sound Editing
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lone Survivor
Best Sound Mixing
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Best Visual Effects
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Lone Ranger
Best Foreign Language Film
Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium
The Great Beauty – Italy
The Hunt – Denmark
The Missing Picture – Cambodia
Omar – Palestine
Best Animated Short
Feral
Get a Horse
Mr Hublot
Possessions
Room on the Broom
Best Documentary
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet From Stardom
Best Documentary Short
Cavedigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
Best Live-Action Short
Aquel No Era Yo
Just Before Losing Everything
Helium
Do I Have to Take Care of Everything
The Voorman
The unsurprising leaders are 12 Years a Slave, eight nominations, Gravity, ten honours, and American Hustle, also ten nominations. Both Dallas Buyers Club and The Wolf of Wall Street gained five, Captain Phillips and Nebraska scored an impressive six while Her and Philomena followed up with four. Blue Jasmine got three while, with its two star actresses, August: Osage County scraped into the shortlists with two, as did animations Frozen and Despicable Me 2 and documentary The Act of Killing and martial-arts based The Grandmaster. In the more technical areas, Captain Phillips and Gravity made a big impact while The Great Gatsby, The Lone Ranger, Lone Survivor and Inside Llewyn Davis got two, The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug got three and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Jackass: Bad Grandpa, The Book Thief, All is Lost and The Invisible Woman pushed their way in with just one nomination each.
There are some shocking snubs. Blue is the Warmest Colour is the most obvious one. I thought that this Palme D’Or was bound to not only win Best Foreign Language Film but also pick up nominations for Best Leading Actress, Best Director and Best Picture but didn’t even get one honour. Captain Phillips’ Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass were respectively left out of Best Actor and Best Director. Saving Mr Banks, All is Lost, Prisoners and Inside Llewyn Davis were left of some of the awards they were favoured for while the hugely popular The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Rush were completely bereft of recognition. Saving Mr Banks was one of the most loved efforts of the year and yet only finds itself with one nomination; Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrel and director John Lee Hancock were all snubbed. I also think that Lone Survivor and The Book Thief will be disappointed with their small hoards.
In terms of potential winners, Gravity will no doubt win the most awards but 12 Years a Slave may just beat off the main competition from Gravity and American Hustle to win Best Picture. I think the winners of the “big five” will be Alfonso Cuaron (director of Gravity), Leonardo Di Caprio (actor of The Wolf of Wall Street), Cate Blanchett (actress of Blue Jasmine), Michael Fassbender (supporting actor of 12 Years a Slave) and Jennifer Lawrence (supporting actress of American Hustle).
The show itself will be on ABC in America or Sky Movies in the UK on March 2nd and will be hosted by Ellen Degeneres.
The 86th Academy Awards – March 2nd on ABC and Sky Movies
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